Vietnam's planned bauxite mines come under further pressure

About 1,000 Vietnam Catholics hold anti-govt vigil

AFP

26th April 2009

HANOI - About 1,000 Vietnamese Catholics held a candlelight prayer vigil Saturday night to protest a bauxite mining project and against government plans for construction on land claimed by the church.

The vigil lasted nearly 30 minutes and took place on church property in a courtyard after evening mass.

"We are not in agreement with the actions of the government," Nguyen Van Phuong, a priest at the vigil in Tai Ha Redemptorist parish, told AFP.

He said the faithful gathered to "pray for the government" and oppose its plans for bauxite mining in Vietnam's Central Highlands.

By criticising the bauxite plan, the Catholics join a diverse collection of scientists, intellectuals, former soldiers, and opponents of the communist regime.

They say the environmental and social damage of the mine will far outweigh any economic benefit, and point out security concerns because a Chinese company has been granted a contract to build one of the mines.

After their vigil, parishioners signed a petition against the mine.

Phuong said they also object to plans by local authorities in Hanoi to build on nearby land the parish says it has owned since 1928.

Another priest, Nguyen Van Khai, told AFP on Friday that a school was already erected on the land, and work recently began on another building. A construction hoarding has gone up that indicates that a residential block will be built there.

Officials did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment on the property dispute, the latest between Tai Ha and the authorities.

About 1,000 Catholics protested in March outside a Hanoi court that upheld the conviction of eight fellow believers for property damage and disturbing public order.

All had admitted taking part in rallies that peaked last August calling for the return of church property seized -- along with many other buildings and farms -- more than 50 years earlier when communists took power in what was then North Vietnam.

Vietnam has Southeast Asia's second largest Catholic community after the Philippines, with at least six million followers.

Religious activity remains under state control, but Hanoi's relations with the Catholic Church had improved before the wave of property protests.

Bauxite mining in Central Highlands gets Politburo go-ahead

VietNamNet/TTXVN/SGGP

26th April 2009

Developing the bauxite mining industry is Party and Government policy, which will help develop the country's economy and create an impetus for socio-economic development in the Central Highlands, said the Politburo on April 24.

In a statement released by the Politburo, it gives conclusions on the planning for bauxite exploration, exploitation, processing and use between 2007 and 2015.

In implementing the Party's resolutions related to this field, the Government has approved two projects to exploit bauxite and produce alumina in Tan Rai, Lam Dong Province, and in Nhan Co, Dak Nong Province.

The Government assigned Vietnam Coal and Mineral Group to invest in the mines. It asked the group to seek qualified foreign partners in developing the sites.

The projects must be developed in ways that ensure both economic and social benefits, with due attention to the efficiency of natural resource use, demand of domestic and international markets, and products' competitiveness.

The projects' potential impacts on the environment must be calculated and assessed carefully and sufficiently, and the developers of the projects must strictly comply with regulations on environmental protection, the Politburo said.

It also directed the mining group to use advanced technologies and equipment.

In addition, developers must help maintain living conditions and the cultural identities of ethnic communities in places where the projects are developed. At the same time, important factors such as security and defense should be afforded attention, said the Politburo.

It emphasized that the bauxite, alumina and aluminum industries must be developed efficiently, both short-term and long-term, to ensure sustainable benefits for the country.

These projects should mainly use domestic labor force and only employ foreigners when necessary.

Important issues related to the two projects will be reported to the Party's Central Executive Committee in its meeting in mid-2009.

Vietnam government chooses economic growth over xenophobia and greenery

The Economist

24 April 2009

IN A one-party state where people are routinely jailed for criticising government policy, it is rare for all but the most brave or foolhardy to speak out. But a government plan to allow a Chinese company to start mining some of the massive reserves of bauxite lying beneath Vietnam's verdant Central Highlands has provoked an unprecedented backlash from an unlikely assortment of critics. They include a nonagenarian war-hero, Vo Nguyen Giap, a dissident monk, Thich Quang Do, and a slew of leading scientists and environmental campaigners.

Vietnam is blessed with the world's third-largest reserves of bauxite, the raw material for aluminium, and the communist government is keen to reap the benefits. Under a plan that the prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, has called "a major policy of the party and the state", the government is seeking to attract $15 billion or more of investment to develop bauxite mining and aluminium refining projects by 2025. It has already signed a contract with a subsidiary of Chinalco, a state-owned Chinese mining group, to build one mine and agreed with Alcoa, an American aluminium giant, to carry out a feasibility study for another.